A leafy green vegetable with large colorful leaves and thick stalks, eaten cooked or raw and similar to spinach or kale.
From Old French 'charde,' possibly from Latin 'carduus' (thistle). The plant has been cultivated in Mediterranean regions for thousands of years, and the name traveled through multiple languages.
Swiss chard isn't Swiss—it's Mediterranean! The 'Swiss' part is a mystery, but 'chard' probably comes from the same root as 'thistle,' showing how this vegetable's ancestors were wild, prickly plants that humans domesticated into a delicious green.
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